GLENDALE : Ceremony Dedicates Medical Terrace

A new $18.5-million building that will house more than 40 doctors and give patients easier access to hospital services was dedicated at Glendale Adventist Center this week.

“Today we are here to celebrate a dream,” said David Nelson, chief operating officer at the hospital. “It took an extraordinary amount of effort and vision . . . during the past 5 1/2 years to make this dream come true.”

Nelson was addressing 175 people--including Glendale Mayor Larry Zarian--who attended a special ribbon-cutting lobby ceremony at the new Physicians Medical Terrace on Wednesday. Another 1,000 showed up for afternoon tours of the building.

Planning for the three-story, 70,000-square-foot complex began in 1987, and construction in March, 1991, said Beth Powis, communications manager for the hospital. The building is owned by the hospital and a group of physicians who maintain offices there.

The Physicians Medical Terrace rests on top of a four-level, 180,000-square-foot parking structure. Patients using the parking garage will have to pay a $1 fee.

A walkway connects the main hospital building with the medical terrace, making it easier for patients to visit their doctor and seek additional hospital services without having to leave the premises, officials say.

Currently, 87% of the office space at the medical terrace has been occupied by doctors specializing in more than 12 areas, ranging from internal medicine to gynecology to pediatrics. The largest medical group in the building is Family Medical Associates, located on the first floor.

The complex also features a pharmacy, a station to collect lab specimens and a medical equipment supply store for doctors. Unlike the main hospital building, the Physicians Medical Terrace does not house patients, Powis said.